During the night

Blanco 4-m Daily Procedures - During the Night

• Watch the weather, make sure the bad weather rules are followed.
• Check the status of the mirror cooler and the extractor if the seeing is very poor.
  A 1° temperature difference between the mirror surface and the ambient air will create additional mirror-seeing (typically up to 0.5" extra for 1° difference). Thus our goal is to maintain the mirror temperature within 1° of the predicted temperature of the following night.
• If wind speed is greater than 15 mph on average wind buffet on the telescope may produce elongated images in which case the sliding doors should be closed.
• Occasionally do a temp4m and check that:
  • All for mirror sensors are within 0.5-1°C of each other
  • Mirror temperature, dome temperature and outside temperature are within 1°C of each other
  • R.A. bearing hydraulic oil cooling is working (if not, the oil temperature will rise quickly to around 30°)
• Report any problems.